浴佛功德經

Thus indeed have I heard:

At one time, the Bhagavān was dwelling upon the summit of Gṛdhrakūṭa together with twelve hundred and fifty bhikṣus; and besides these there were also immeasurable, boundless great bodhisattvas, and the eightfold assembly of devas, nāgas, and the rest—all gathered here in full.

At that time, the bodhisattva Pure-and-Stainless Wisdom, dwelling within the great assembly, out of compassion for sentient beings, reflected thus: "Through what causes and conditions do the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, attain a pure body fully endowed with the auspicious marks?" Then the bodhisattva reflected again: "Those sentient beings who are able to behold the Tathāgata, to draw near and make offerings to him, thereby gain immeasurable, boundless merit. I do not know, after the Tathāgata has entered parinirvāṇa, in what manner all sentient beings should make offerings, and what merit they should cultivate and create, so as to be able to increase their wholesome roots and swiftly realize the fruit of Unsurpassed Bodhi."

Having reflected thus, the bodhisattva then rose from his seat, arranged his robe to bare his right shoulder, bowed his head at the feet of the Buddha, then knelt down, joined his palms, and addressed him, saying:

"World-Honored One! I wish to make an inquiry; I pray that you may grant your consent!"

The Buddha said:

"Good son! Go ahead and ask, and I shall answer for your sake."

The bodhisattva Pure-and-Stainless Wisdom then said:

"World-Honored One! Through what causes and conditions do the Buddhas—the Tathāgatas, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly and Completely Enlightened Ones—attain a pure body fully endowed with the auspicious marks? Whatever sentient beings are able to meet the Buddha, to draw near and make offerings to him, gain immeasurable, boundless merit. But after the Tathāgata has entered extinction, in what manner should sentient beings make offerings, and what merit should they cultivate and create, so as to increase their wholesome roots and swiftly realize the fruit of Unsurpassed Bodhi?"

At that time, the World-Honored One said to the bodhisattva Pure-and-Stainless Wisdom:

"Excellent! Excellent! For the sake of the sentient beings of later ages you have thus questioned the Tathāgata. Now I shall, for your sake, discriminate and expound it. Listen well, reflect well upon it, and then practice in accordance with my teaching!"

The bodhisattva Pure-and-Stainless Wisdom said:

"Yes indeed! World-Honored One! We are most eager to hear!"

The Buddha taught:

"Good son! You should know that it is through giving, upholding the precepts, patience, vigor, wisdom, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity, liberation, the knowledge and vision of liberation, the powers, the fearlessnesses, all the Buddha-dharmas, the knowledge of all modes, and the knowledge of wholesome purity that the Tathāgata realizes the pure body. Hereafter, if any sentient beings adorn the front of the Buddha-hall with fragrant flowers, garlands of jewels, banners, streamers, and jeweled canopies, and then offer them up to the Tathāgata with a sincerely reverent and pure mind; or take supremely sublime fragrant water and wipe clean the venerable image, burning incense and directing the mind so that it permeates the entire Dharma-realm;

or set out food and drink, beat drums and perform music, play instruments and sing in praise of the unshared merit of the Tathāgata, and then make a surpassing vow, dedicating it toward the Unsurpassed Knowledge of All—then the merit thus produced is immeasurable and boundless, never ceasing until the fruit of Bodhi is realized.

Why is this so?

Because the merit and wisdom of the Tathāgata are inconceivable and beyond all reckoning. Good son! The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, are fully endowed with three bodies: the Dharma-body, the Enjoyment-body, and the Transformation-body. After I have entered nirvāṇa, if one wishes to make offerings to these three bodies, one should make offerings to the relics. There are two kinds: the first is the bodily relics; the second is the relics of the Dharma-verse."

The Buddha then spoke a verse:

"Hereafter, good men and women, and the five assemblies of those gone forth—bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, śikṣamāṇās, śrāmaṇeras, and śrāmaṇerikās—should make images of the Buddha.

If one does not have the means to carve images and build towering, magnificent stūpas, then one may also make an image as small as a grain of barley; take a relic the size of a mustard seed, or copy out a Dharma-verse, and enshrine it within a stūpa about the size of a jujube fruit, with a finial-mast (set atop the stūpa) like a sewing needle, and a canopy like a fragment of husk. If anyone, according to their own ability, carves an image and makes a stūpa as described above—even though it be very small, it is truly worthy of cherishing—and then with utmost sincerity bows in homage and makes offerings, then the merit is no different from drawing near and making offerings to the Tathāgata while he was yet living in the world.

Good son! If any sentient beings are able to make offerings as described above, they will accomplish fifteen surpassing merits:

First: they will constantly possess a sense of shame and conscience; second: they will give rise to a mind of pure faith; third: they will have a mind that is straightforward and honest; fourth: they will draw near to good friends; fifth: they will enter the wisdom free of outflows; sixth: they will constantly meet the Buddhas; seventh: they will forever uphold the True Dharma; eighth: they will practice in accordance with the Buddha's teaching; ninth: they will be reborn in pure Buddha-lands according to their own wishes; tenth: if born among humans, they will enter the lineage of renowned and noble families, will constantly give rise to a joyful mind, and will be honored and esteemed by many; eleventh: if born among humans, they will naturally know how to be mindful of the Buddha;

twelfth: the hosts of Māra will be unable to harm or vex them; thirteenth: they will be able to protect and uphold the True Dharma in later ages; fourteenth: they will be blessed and protected by the Buddhas of the ten directions; fifteenth: they will swiftly accomplish the fivefold Dharma-body."

At that time, the World-Honored One spoke a verse, saying:

After the Tathāgata had spoken this verse, the bodhisattva Pure-and-Stainless Wisdom said:

"World-Honored One! By what means are the sentient beings of later ages to bathe the Buddha?"

The Buddha said:

"You should give rise to a mind of right mindfulness toward the Tathāgata; do not become attached to the two extremes nor deluded by existence and non-existence; toward what is wholesome you should aspire and yearn without weariness; in the three gates of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—skillfully cultivate wisdom; constantly seek to go forth and emerge, and do not abide in birth-and-death; toward sentient beings give rise to great loving-kindness and compassion, and vow to swiftly realize the three bodies.

Good son! I have already expounded the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and the Six Pāramitās. Now, for the sake of you and the kings, princes, great ministers, queens, consorts, devas, nāgas, humans, ghosts and spirits, and the rest, I shall teach the method of bathing the Buddha-image.

Among all the modes of making offerings, this is the most supreme—far surpassing the giving of the seven jewels as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. When bathing the venerable image, one must use the various precious fragrances such as ox-head sandalwood, white sandalwood, purple sandalwood, aloeswood, frankincense, saffron-fragrance, camphor-fragrance, agalloch-fragrance, patchouli, and the like—grinding them into powder upon a clean stone, then placing them in a vase and blending them with pure water.

Take clean earth and build up an altar, square or round, in an open and airy place, making the altar large or small according to the occasion; upon it set a table, and then invite the Buddha-image up onto it. When bathing the Buddha, one must first sprinkle warm fragrant water over the image, then take pure, clean water from which the small creatures have been strained and pour it over repeatedly; next, with a soft cloth, wipe it dry, then suffuse it with the various fragrances, and afterward invite the image back to its former place.

Good son! Through the merit of bathing the Buddha, in this present life you will gain peace and joy, freedom from illness, long life, the fulfillment of all your aspirations as you wish, the security of your friends and kinsfolk, escape from the eight calamities, and deliverance from the root of suffering; in the future you will no longer receive a female body, and you will swiftly accomplish Right Enlightenment.

After bathing and enshrining the venerable image, one should burn the various fragrances as an offering, then join one's palms with utmost sincerity before the Buddha and offer praise:

Now I bathe and cleanse the image of the Tathāgata,
Adorned with pure wisdom and abundant merit;
I pray that the sentient beings of the age of five turbidities
May swiftly realize the Tathāgata's pure Dharma-body.

The fragrance of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision thereof
Permeates the entire Dharma-realm throughout the ten directions;
I pray that this fragrant smoke too may be inexhaustible,
And that immeasurable, boundless Buddha-works be accomplished.

May the suffering of the three evil paths be entirely extinguished,
The burning heat dispelled and coolness attained;
May all valiantly give rise to the Unsurpassed mind,
Advancing straight to the shore of awakening, unfettered by craving.

When the Buddha had finished speaking this sūtra, immeasurable, boundless bodhisattvas attained the stainless samādhi, immeasurable devas attained the non-retrogressing wisdom, the assemblies of śrāvakas vowed to seek Buddhahood, and eighty-four thousand sentient beings all gave rise to the mind of Anuttarā Samyak-Saṃbodhi.

At that time, the bodhisattva Pure-and-Stainless Wisdom addressed the Buddha, saying:

"How blessed we are! The World-Honored One, out of compassion, has instructed us in the method of bathing the Buddha! Now I shall exhort the kings, the great ministers, and all those of faithful mind who delight in cultivating and creating merit, that each day they should bathe and cleanse the venerable image so as to gain abundant benefit; and that they should constantly bow in homage, receive and uphold it, and joyfully put it into practice!"